TORONTO
– Following a brief legal hiccup, the contest to win Das Gasthaus restaurant
has resumed.

Ruthie
Cummings first launched the $150 Restaurant Contest in September. However, the
company she first partnered with to administer the raffle was located in the
United States and legally prohibited from operating a Canadian contest.

In
November, Cummings announced she has partnered with Moneris to assist with the
contest. Cummings said all legal hurdles have been cleared.

For
the contest, Cummings is selling $150 raffle tickets to win Das Gasthaus, a
1,500-square-foot, 35-seat restaurant in The Danforth and Broadview
neighbourhood of Toronto. The restaurant also includes 20 additional seats for
private functions.

The
holder of the winning ticket will receive all of the restaurant’s equipment,
recipes and 30 days of assistance from Cummings if required. The winner will
also be required to sign a new lease with the property’s landlord.

“I
put my heart and soul into this place. It is an emotional separation for me,
but it’s neat to see someone come in with the same drive,” Cummings said. “It
makes me a bit happier walking away from it.”

Cummings
is holding the raffle in order to care for her elderly parents, who live three
hours outside of Toronto.

“I’m
moving in with them at home to help them. They’re terrified of moving into a
seniors home,” Cummings said. “I’m going to help them with their day-to-day
lives.”

A
contest, rather than a traditional sale, will help expedite the process of
joining her parents.

“If
we did a straight up sale, I could get enough money to cover it. The problem is
my parents’ need is greater than the amount of time it would take to sell,”
Cummings said. “My mom doesn’t have the time to wait for due process to
happen.”

She
added the contest is a way to “pay it forward” to an aspiring restaurateur who
might not have had the capital to start his or her own business.

“It
took me a long time to save the money to do what I wanted to do. I know there
are a lot of people out there with the same passion without the financial
ability,” Cummings said. “This sets them up to have a business without the
initial investment.”

Cummings
said the original contest sold about half of the 4,000 available tickets, but the
money was refunded.

“I
have a list of the people who did the original purchase. I’m in the process of
letting them know it’s back on,” she said.

Ticket
sales end on Dec. 24 with the draw held on Dec. 30. Each ticket sold includes a
barcode, which will be physically drawn by Cummings.

“We
don’t actually see the name until we scan the barcode. It keeps it more
anonymous,” she said. “We want to keep a level of legitimacy. It makes people
feel very comfortable buying the tickets.”

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Ishcom Publications was established in 1986 with the launch of Ontario Restaurant News, offering national coverage with a provincial focus of the news that matters to the restaurant and foodservice industry. The company expanded its regional concentration with the addition of Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News and Atlantic Restaurant News. In 2004, Ishcom Publications added Canadian Lodging News to its portfolio to offer its industry news coverage to the accommodation sector.